By Mandy McFarland Editor
NAPPANEE — Discontent over teacher contract negotiations led Wa-Nee teachers to rally last Monday afternoon, May 5.
The protest began at the NorthWood High School parking lot, with roughly 150 to 200 people showing up to march. Carrying signs bearing messages like “say it ain’t so, Joe” and “P.E., let it be,” parents, students, community members and employees of other area school districts joined the teachers and marched to the Wa-Nee administration building, where contract mediation was taking place.

Representatives from the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) addressed the crowd.
Kent Kimpel, ISTA Uniserv Director, voiced his thoughts on the subject.
“Education cuts never heal,” he said.
Jill Nunemaker, a Wa-Nee parent and Wakarusa Elementary School volunteer, expressed her appreciation for the the school system’s music and art programs.
“I have a desire to help children,” she said. “Taking away art, music and phys ed would really hurt these children.”
Music and art, along with physical education, are two of the programs Wa-Nee administrators have considered cutting.
Nunemaker’s daughter Megan and son Sean have both participated in art and music in school. Megan Nunemaker feels strongly about the thought of no longer having art or music classes.
“I really like art because I like to make pictures with colors and stuff,” Megan, fourth grade, said. “If they take that away, I want to be homeschooled.”
Nunemaker also said, “I talked to one couple who said if they were going to cut programs that they were going to homeschool their children, too.”
“Our children — their education — is important, and the classes they’re wanting to cut is absolutely ridiculous,” Tara Robinson, another Wa-Nee parent, said. “I think they need to cut some of the extracurriculars before they cut classes.”
An hour before the teacher rally, a number of NorthWood High School students held a gathering of their own in the courtyard outside of the high school to show their support for their teachers. Members of the student council organized the gathering, and students showed up wearing NorthWood red and black and carrying handmade signs.
“I think it’s important to take care of our teachers,” Wa-Nee parent Tanya Fleetwood said.
Just one week prior, a similar crowd filled the NorthWood High School auditorium for the weekly school board meeting to hear Wa-Nee Education Association President Jim Mattern speak. He pointed out that last year, approximately 12 teaching positions at Wa-Nee were eliminated.
“When negotiations began in the spring of 2007 we were offered a zero percent raise and a doubling of our contribution to our health insurance cost,” he said. “This would translate to an eight percent cut in a first-year teacher’s compensation.”
According to Mattern, the cuts are due to a decrease in the amount of new money Wa-Nee schools will receive. This, in turn, he said, was due to a decrease in enrollment for 2007-08.
Mattern said that at the high school level, classes that could take a cut would include business, foreign language, language arts, fine arts and guidance.
The Advance News contacted the Wa-Nee Administration building following the school board meeting, however Superintendent Joe Sabo was not available for comment while mediation was progressing.